In the manufacturing process of a cardboard box, firstly, a continuous web sheet of a cardboard is processed by a box making machine which makes an individual cardboard box folded in a sheet-like shape. Secondly, the processed cardboard sheets are transferred from the box making machine to an accumulating and delivering apparatus which receives the processed cardboard sheets one by one from the box making machine, accumulates them in the form of a pile consisting of a predetermined number of the cardboard sheets, and delivers the pile of the cardboard sheets therefrom. Japanese patent document 2000-127262(A1) discloses such an accumulating and delivering apparatus. This apparatus includes an elevator on which cardboard sheets are stacked, and the elevator is supported by a pivotably driven lever, whereby the elevator can be moved between its stacking position and its delivering position. When a pile of the cardboard sheets including a predetermined number thereof is stacked on the elevator, the pile is ejected by pushing it out using a cylinder device.
In the operation of the above mentioned apparatus, the cardboard sheets are stacked on the elevator in its stacking position, and when the number of the cardboard sheets reaches a predetermined number, the elevator is moved downwardly to its delivering position by the lever being driven. The elevator is moved upwardly again to its stacking position by the lever being driven after the pile of cardboard sheets on the elevator has been ejected by using the cylinder device. Since the cardboard sheets are successively fed from the box making machine even when the elevator is in its delivering position, a ledge is projected above the elevator in order to temporarily support the cardboard sheets.
However, after the pile of cardboard sheets on the elevator has been ejected when the elevator is located at its delivering position, then the elevator must be moved upwardly again to its stacking position. This does not allow many of the cardboard sheets to be temporarily supported on the ledge. Thus, the speed at which the cardboard sheets are fed is limited, which can cause lowering of production efficiency.